Saints Report #6 - October 25, 2021

 

The Saints went into normally rainy Seattle and put the clamps on the Seahawks to the tune of 13-10 in a part time storm on Monday Night.  Another ugly win to move to 4-2.

The game resembled a fight scene in the rain in The Matrix, minus the grace and stylishness, unless you watched Alvin Kamara who put forth a fantasy dream night.  Suddenly the Saints have rediscovered his effectiveness when the ball is tossed to him, and without that it would have been a gloomy night, where we would have said “Why don’t we just get in the running car?”

The two teams pushed inefficiently against each other except for one touchdown drive a piece.  A lot could be made of the sluggish offenses, or the good defenses, but the truth of the matter is that this game was won by the kickers.  The Saints continuously flipped the field position behind the leg of punter Blake Gillikin, and they got two field goals from their 4^th placekicker of the year, Brian Johnson, while the Seattle kicker was going 1 for 3,  Where did Brian come from?  Sean Payton met him last Monday and his heart stood still, when it appeared Johnson could actually put the ball between the uprights.  This was to become even more important the next day, when kicker #1 Will Lutz was declared out for the season after a setback in his recovery.  Hang on Brian, Brian hang on.

The Saints continue to fly under the radar, rating rarely a mention in the national media.  No one believes in the Saints yet but the next week’s opponent, Tampa Bay will lead the Saints into the heart of their schedule, including Dallas and Buffalo.  I truly believe it takes a strong franchise quarterback to win the Super Bowl, and each season starts with about 10 – 12 of those.  I regret to say that this will probably not be the case for the Saints this year.  I’m not a Winston hater.  I think he’s doing fine, workmanlike stuff.  But he’s not going to carry this team, and the days of a dominant defensive team, which the Saints are, racing through the playoffs is over.  The rules favor the offenses, and there are too many stars out there.  Would love to be wrong, but instead, I’m going to appreciate this team for what it is – a hardnosed defense minded team, and I look forward to next Sunday’s showdown with Brady.  I think he’s in for a dogfight.

Meanwhile, some other comments about sports:  The Pelicans are back, minus Van Gundy, “airball” and “slowfoot,” my two least favorite players from last year.  I won’t say their names.  Unfortunately Zion is hurt and reportedly way overweight.  New Orleans teams don’t seem to “stay in touch.”  See Michael Thomas. 

I’m enjoying baseball.  I remember Lolich and Gibson, Koufax and Ford, and those great pitching duels.  It’s now a parade of relievers and the strongest bullpen wins.  I’m ok with that.

Here are some important lessons from sports of today:

• Replay has gotten out of hand.  I didn’t think it possible to make the last 2 minutes of an NBA game last longer, but I was wrong.  We beat everything to death.  
• Yelling at the top of your lungs is important at the end of every big play.  I plan on applying this to my life.  Wait until the next time I successfully parallel park.
• Someone should be designated to bring water to every celebration, especially at home plate, to douse the pile with.  It’s kind of funny to see. 

Saints Report #3 - September 22, 2019

The Saints traveled to a stadium that has not been kind to them in the Payton/Brees era and with a punt return for a touchdown, a defensive touchdown, an amazing performance by Alvin Kamara, and a solid one by backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater they put a licking on the Seattle Seahawks, 33-27.  It marked a rare success for Sean Payton on the West Coast, and it came at the most opportune time.

With Drew Brees sidelined for 6 weeks, the Saints moved to 2-1.  Bridgewater, who will try to hold the fort down for the Saints during Brees’ rehabilitation from thumb surgery, threw touchdown passes to superstars Kamara and Michael Thomas, as the Saints built a big lead.  Rookie punt returner Deonte Harris ran back a punt for a touchdown, a rare special team’s success for the Saints, to start the scoring.  Of course he later fumbled a punt to move right into Payton’s doghouse, but the Saints defense held the Seahawks out of the end zone. 

Alvin Kamara may have had his best game as a Saint.  He dodged and dived, breaking tackles left and right as he scored twice.  He got plenty of help from the defense.  The Saints stopped the Seahawks on 4^th down attempts repeatedly.  The Seahawks scored late touchdowns to make it close, but this was one of Dennis Allen’s best prepared defenses, although chasing Russell Wilson around all day can be exhausting.

With an important win under the belt, the Saints now prep for the hated Dallas Cowboys who come to the Superdome Sunday night.  Sean Payton has not fared well against the Cowboys lately, so this is an opportunity to break another trend. 

Saints Report #7 - October 30, 2016

Trying desperately to become relevant again the New Orleans Saints played their best game of the season in beating the Seattle Seahawks 25-20 in the Mercedes Benz Superdome on Sunday.  They finally exacted a little revenge for season ending playoff losses in 2010 and 2011.  

The turning point in the game was when the Seahawks scored a defensive touchdown to take a 7-0 early lead by wrestling the football away from Mark Ingram and running it in.  It was the second time in two weeks that Ingram had coughed it up causing great damage.  This time however was different.  Sean Payton had seen enough of “straight line” and finally sat him down, albeit three years too late.  And just like that Tim Hightower took over and the Saints suddenly had a running game.  Hightower would rush for over 100 yards, something Ingram hasn’t down since the Chicago Cubs last won a World Series. 

The Saints battled back from a 14-3 second quarter deficit.  Drew Brees led the Saints to scores on their last 5 possessions, remarkable given the caliber of the Seahawks defense.  The Saints moved the ball all day, but were somewhat stymied in the red zone.  Sean Payton played it uncharacteristically conservatively, settling for field goals against the tough goal line defense. 

Meanwhile, the Saints no-name defense harassed Russell Wilson all day and even more importantly kept him in the pocket.  The defense began to show the progress Saints fans have been hoping for. If the defense continues to play this way, the running game is the slightest of threats (in other words Ingram stays where he spent most of this game) and Brees and his stellar receiving corps continue to impress, maybe, just maybe there's relevancy in the Saints future.

Next week the Saints travel to San Francisco and make another effort to pull themselves to .500 on the year.  At least that would make for an interesting 2nd half of the season.